--- title: "Is buying puts every month worth it for a long term" description: "Buying a put every month is a recurring premium for protection, and the price of that protection moves with implied volatility." source_url: "https://www.rupeecase.com/learn/questions/buying-puts-every-month" --- The 30 day at the money implied volatility moved a lot, so the monthly cost of a put moved too Constant 30 day at the money implied volatility of Nifty options, daily, from 1 Jul 2025 to 15 Sep 2026. A put for a fixed strike and time costs more when this measure is higher. Source: NSE end of day data, computed by RupeeCase. As of 15 Sep 2026. A monthly put is a premium paid for a floor. The premium is the price of the option on the day you buy it, and one input to that price is implied volatility, which moves from day to day. The chart shows the 30 day at the money implied volatility of Nifty options from 1 Jul 2025 to 15 Sep 2026. The record shows how far the cost can move. The series was lowest on 24 Dec 2025 and highest on 30 Mar 2026, the day Nifty fell sharply. For the same strike and time, a put costs more when volatility is high, so the same monthly budget buys fewer puts in stressed months. Twelve premiums a year come before any payoff. Over a long holding, the cover pays only in months when the fall reaches the strike. The test is the premium paid over the years, set against the losses the puts would have covered over the same years, on the same portfolio. Costs add to that test. From 1 Apr 2026 STT on options is 0.15% of the premium on a sale, and 0.15% of intrinsic value when an option is exercised. Each monthly put is a new trade, so each one carries these charges. The strike, the expiry and the timing of each purchase change the answer, so a single chart cannot settle it. The chart below shows the input that moves the premium, and the record of how it changed. **Before you trade.** Derivatives trading carries a high risk of loss. SEBI's study "Profitability of Individual Traders in the Equity Derivatives Segment (FY25 to FY26)" (August 2026) found that 87.7% of individual traders in equity F&O made net losses in FY26, with aggregate net losses of Rs 91,685 crore. [Read the SEBI study](https://www.sebi.gov.in/reports-and-statistics/research/aug-2026/study-profitability-of-individual-traders-in-the-equity-derivatives-segment-fy25-fy26-_103835.html) Is buying puts every month worth it for a long term investor?Buying a put every month is a recurring premium for protection, and the price of that protection moves with implied volatility, so the monthly bill is not the same from one month to the next. Whether it is worth the cost depends on how large a fall the portfolio can take and how often the cover would pay, which one chart cannot settle. LGo deeper ## Where Learn teaches this. [Go deeperWhy and when to hedge: insurance in plain numbers8 min, Beginner](/learn/path-17/module-17-4-why-hedge)[Go deeperVolatility: historical against implied7 min, Beginner](/learn/path-16/module-16-1-historical-vs-implied-volatility) SSources ## Go to the source. 1. [NSE, India VIX page (index description and methodology summary)](https://www.nseindia.com/static/products-services/indices-indiavix-index) NSE 2. [NSE, equity derivatives contract specifications (expiry cycle, lot size and strike rules)](https://www.nseindia.com/static/products-services/equity-derivatives-contract-specifications) NSE ?Questions people ask ## Related questions. 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